New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) task force received ample attention from news and activist organizations alike following its dramatic announcement at last year’s State of the Union Address. The task force was supposed to investigate and prosecute Wall Street fraud that led to the housing bubble and the eventual collapse of the broader economy. FDL alum David Dayen’s recent piece in Salon reminds us that, one year later, the “new” task force has essentially amounted to what the “old” task force always was: “a conduit for press releases about investigative actions already in progress.”

Firedoglake was among a few groups that met the news of the taskforce with skepticism, but others like MoveOn.org, Rebuild the American Dream and the Courage Campaign were ebullient in their praise of the president and NY attorney general alike. My inbox was flooded with emails like this one, calling on me to thank the President, and get ready for the Wall Street prosecutions to come rolling in.

One month after being tapped to chair the task force, Schneiderman and his fellow ‘Justice Democrat’ California Attorney General Kamala Harris dropped their longstanding objections to a rather pathetic nationwide foreclosure fraud settlement that not only allowed some of the biggest criminals involved to walk upon payment of a relatively paltry settlement, but as FDL contributor Cynthia Kouril wrote at the time, “The court system will be permanently corrupted by forged and perjurious documents… This settlement is an incredible breach of the social contract between the government and the governed.” Months went by without mention of or word from the taskforce. The New York Daily News began to wonder aloud in April of that year whether the taskforce would actually do anything at all, and David Dayen repeatedlywroteatFDLNews of the completelack of information that had yet to surface on the taskforce.

The public – or rather, those who knew about this disturbing trend – was outraged at Schneiderman’s inaction, but the biggest outside champions of the taskforce were nowhere to be found. There were no emails from MoveOn calling on their millions of members to urge Schneiderman and the President to act. Really, how could they? They had already declared victory at the formation of the taskforce, and so all leverage was lost. This lack of public pressure from the groups most influential with administration officials may have contributed to the fact that the RMBS task force still does not have its own offices, phone lines or staff.

To this day, it seems these Beltway liberals are incapable of understanding the nature of our predicament. The Nation Magazine’s editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, for one, defended these groups’ efforts in the Washington Post, writing, “Dayen blames groups like the Campaign for a Fair Settlement, the New Bottom Line, Move On and the Campaign for America’s Future (disclosure: I’m on its board) for buying in to the plot. In reality, though, these organizations have been pressuring the Obama administration for months to clean house at Justice, devote real resources to the task force and make it a top priority inside the White House.”

But David’s response gets at the heart of what I would like to address in this post (emphasis mine):

…I’m sure the Administration trembles at the pressuring from the groups that sent out glowing press releases a year ago about the “real leadership” shown by the President in announcing a task force that, by this own admission, carried no guarantee of resources or prioritization.

Look, nobody likes having to admit they’ve been duped. But I reject the assertion that there are only two courses of action here, that “we can either fight to see that this investigation is real or we can take our ball and go home.” That fight over the investigation is doomed. What would be useful is to examine the role of these DC progressive groups, who continue to build coalitions aimed at “pressuring” the White House and who continue to fail in spectacular fashion.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time MoveOn and the establishment liberals have fallen silent when they were needed most.

Throughout the winter of 2011, local governments managed to find rare bipartisan consensus in mutual hatred of the Occupy encampments in their communities. Crackdowns began across the country at an alarming rate. Examples include:

Charlotte City Council has proposed an ordinance that “makes camping on public property a “public nuisance” and would prohibit “noxious substances,” padlocks and other camping equipment that city officials fear could impede traffic and create public safety issues.” (Convenient, since the DNC was hosted last fall.)

City officials in Bloomington posted an eviction notice for Occupy Bloomington after three arrests during a downtown march. Gov. Mitch Daniels also introduced new ‘security rules’ for the Statehouse, including allowing no more than 3,000 people to be inside the statehouse at any one time, “no protest signs larger than 2’ X 2’, no signs on sticks, no obscenity, no engaging in lewd acts contrary to state law, no Coke cans. Also no gambling.”

Occupy Eugene actually inspired the city to build a wrought iron fence around the home of a city council member who voted to forbid fires at the encampment. Councilman Poling says “his family is unnerved and some neighbors appalled, such as a family with two small children out looking at Christmas lights who saw five masked women demonstrating topless in front of his house.” Poling then went so far as to equate the topless protesters with the 1994 drive-by shooting at a Eugene synagogue by white supremacists, and demanded the city pay for redecorating his home. All Occupy Eugene asked for was to build a homeless shelter in the city.

But suddenly, at the moment Occupy could have really used their enthusiasm to rally to the movement’s defense, MoveOn, DFA and the others disappeared. As crackdowns intensified, Firedoglake and others called on our activists to lobby their local governments and speak out against the crackdowns, and show up at encampments in solidarity. We sent supplies and livestreamed on our front pages, doing everything we could reasonably do with the time afforded to us to protect the Occupy camps, but it wasn’t enough.

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In a President’s first term, one might reasonably argue that these groups should avoid advocacy that could possibly ‘hurt’ their candidate’s chances at winning an election. While I don’t personally agree with this strategy, others are entitled to their own and I respect that. If MoveOn doesn’t feel it can safely navigate the space between supporting Occupy and the President at the same time, it may choose sides as it pleases.

But we are in the President’s second term. Giving the announcement of the RMBS working group a standing ovation — while completely hyperbolic — makes some sense 1 year out from Obama’s re-election. But now that he’s back in office (and assuming MoveOn’s protestations against Wall Street crimes are sincere) wouldn’t one expect to hear calls for action from Schneiderman and the administration, given their total failure thus far?

There is a troubling pattern to the efforts of some of the most visible, well-known advocacy groups on the left that seem, time and time again, to actually empower our opponents rather than empower our movement. When MoveOn and DFA failed to rally to the side of Occupy when they needed them most, they gave a pass to local governments to crack down and devastated the veracity of the movement itself at a time when it could have really dealt a blow to Wall Street. When the MoveOn coalition failed to follow through on their calls for justice for Wall Street crimes after the formation of the RMBS working group, it gave the public the false impression of progress while allowing Wall Street criminals to continue about their business.

The pattern goes something like this:

1. MoveOn comes out swinging at Wall Street, latches on to the emotions of the moment and pulls everyone into a big ‘progressive’ campaign with a coalition made of groups either affiliated with MoveOn or with other (Veal Pen) groups with close ties to the administration.

2. Then there is a moment of mass potential. Whether it’s the crackdowns at the height of the Occupy movement or the announcement of the RMBS working group, this moment attracts substantial press and public attention.

3. The next step should be to leverage the energy of that moment to continue to push for real change in the face of adversity: defend Occupy, or use your considerably large base of activists to urge the government to prosecute Wall Street criminals. But instead, MoveOn et al declare victory in the boldest terms and recede into the background. The coalition is not effectively activated. Everyone feels accomplished, and they should because they just managed to further cement the status quo.

4. Our opponents on Wall Street and in government seize on these opportunities as any shrewd actor would, recognizing that the public’s leverage has been squandered. With the campaign over, they can proceed apace with their agenda. Occupy camps were destroyed and MoveOn was nowhere to be found. Eric Schneiderman didn’t even so much as get a separate phone line for the RMBS working group, and continues to spoil what little remaining chances are left for Wall Street prosecution, and MoveOn is nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, settlements with Wall Street criminals abound and Americans suffer. Aside from the recent lawsuit announced against S&P, which seems promising for now, not a single Wall Street executive has been jailed for their role in the financial crisis. The least MoveOn and their partners could do is send out an email.

It must be very strange to be President Obama. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can’t get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.

One of the best articles I’ve seen in a long time. It shows how moneyed interests have taken over the Democratic Party and co-opted so-called liberal groups like Move-On …just like the bosses in the Republican Party co-opted the Tea Party. The whole bunch of Dem cheerleaders (including the MSM and many new media outlets) is a snake pit of corruption.

Thank you for the always indispensable reminder that undermining meaningful opposition to the powerful and corrupt is the work of most party organs, Brian. Which is to say — thank you for the acute reminder that MoveOn, et al., are indeed organs of a corrupt and corrupting party.

Move On was ,is ,and will always will be nothing more than a fund raising arm for the corporate entity known as the Democratic Party .Same goes for the other party fronts mentioned .I accept the rationale of progressives voting for dems ,but the notion of progressive dems is total bullshit .No beliefs ,no vision and no success has ever emanated from faux school of politics.Progressive is not being a crisis reactionary .

Progressive dems were ranting about the futile exercise of pushing Obama pre-election ,now they push to thank him for nothing .The teabaggers haven’t destroyed America ,a boneless resistance in the absence of a bold vision to counter these fascists is the core problem .

Why don’t you and some other FDL stalwarts do an ‘Exposing the Veal Pen’ radio show, and try to get it on PRN.FM (Progressive Radio Network)? The co-optation is so widespread, you won’t have any problem getting material for new shows.

Excellent points all. Separately, this reminds me of Doug Henwood’s complaint against organized labor, or what’s left of it. According to Henwood, they spend tons on electing Democrats who do exactly nothing for them when the unions could better spend funds making a direct case to the public. Thus we see in places like Wisconsin precious little public support when public-sector unions demand to keep the pensions they’ve been promised.

350.org and Sierra Club are in the same camp as MoveOn. McKibben urged people to vote for Obama, did not pressure Obama at all before the election, and just this week organized the biggest climate protest at the White House while Obama was out golfing with oil executives.

Another example of empowering the politicians instead of the movement.

Dozens of local college kids went to DC for this action, and when it fails, when Obama decides to let the pipeline go forward (and the protester’s signs even said “Forward” in the Obama campaign graphic!!!!), I sure hope they are not totally discouraged and give up.

Meanwhile, if Sierra Cub or 350.org called for thousands to go to where the pipeline is being built and call for them to sit down until dragged away, that might actually work. And it, therefore, will never happen.

Glad to see moveon.org is getting exposed for the sham and the scam they are. At one time they boasted a membership of 5 million. If so, they squandered their potential for REAL change with an intent that should be criminal.

moveon.org emails alerts, which I unsubscribed to long ago, all seem to be written by middle-schoolers. Every day, they send out these screeching, rantingly immature emails about how someone done us wrong! Every day is a different hysterically hyped firedrill: different target, different person, different issue. Oh, and PS, send money, NOW! They couldn’t dilute their potential any more if they tried.

Not sure how and why they are the way they are, but they reflect the sad and pathetic mentality of our current Democratic party and our President: talks a lot, but underneath is absolutely feckless, cowardly, and character-free.

I give my money to The World Wildlife Fund. I really do want the animals that are still left to eat every last one of us. For being chickens. Maybe the animals will use Native American trackers to find the hiding places of the wealthy among us. That would be a nice touch. I just read where the dolphins call each other by their first names. The call Americans by their first two names, ” Hey, Asshole! “

As far as I know, the local Sierra Club did help pay for the bus, and the Western North Carolina Alliance had many scholarships for students. Warren Wilson College gave them two vans to drive up there (they rented two more) and the local Occupy Asheville group gave $100 to the effort.

Except “MoveOn” is it’s own entity. It has NOT been co-opted by any outside forces. Two SF Bay Area entrepreneurs started the organization, and it has been Top Down rather than Bottom Up ever since its inception. It is almost impossible to get a hold of them. And in my case, I knew people who left jobs in the Sierra Club, and went on to MoveOn, and it probably is easier to get a hold of people who have been moved into Witness Protection than to get a hold of those former acquaintances now!

I do think The Onion had an excellent take on the Moveon matter. (And while viewing, remember this is the onion – don’t call 911 till you get the joke! )

It’s OK to criticize MoveOn. Maybe it is not as OK unless you have a record of involvement and commitment equal to theirs.
They have achieved a lot.

Telling them what they should be doing, if, and only if, your own achievements pale in comparison, would indicate that your energy could be better directed. You may think that your own progressive record is mighty, an unstoppable force like a cross between the Mississippi and the Spaghetti Monster. And this may well be the case, so lay, on McMonster, they can take it and you can dish it out.

Organizations are like tugboats. It’s always a shock when you are in the position of steering how difficult it can be to get critical mass. Build one, pilot one; let us know how it goes.

Very good post, Brian. This reminds me of what Moveon did in 2007 with the opposition to the war in Iraq. Instead of pushing for a complete withdrawal, which would have made the Democratic Party uncomfortable, Moveon tried to get the antiwar movement to focus on fighting the surge. It was very divisive and helped to neuter the antiwar movement as a strong and independent force.

Michael Brune said he took part in a protest outside the White House because Keystone XL was “so horrendous, it’s so wrong, and it’s being proposed at such an important time that we don’t want to leave any tool on the table. We want to make sure that every single opportunity we have to shut down this pipeline, we’re taking.”

Brune explained his rationale shortly before he and about 50 other people, including actress Daryl Hannah and social rights leader Julian Bond, were arrested for handcuffing themselves to the White House gates. He said the demonstration intended to challenge President Barack Obama’s actions to meet his rhetoric when it came to addressing climate change, pointing to Keystone XL as something that would exacerbate the problem.

These are what I call “punch list progressives.” They have a list; items get checked, they move on (Ha!). Doesn’t matter that the item in question is Kabuki or real or anywhere in between. I just has to sound like progress. HCR? Most important legislation since the Civil Rights Act! check. The President appoints a commission? Yayyyy! 3 cheers for Teh Prezident! Check. Next item. Then when you complain to them that this president has done nothing for the people, they pull out their punch list and say “Look! He’s accomplished a lot!” When you point out that this president favors austerity in a time of recession, or is killing Americans without due process, they redefine words and quibble about the meaning of “due-process”, “cuts” and “austerity” (Chained CPI, etc.)

I don’t understand these people at all. What do they get out of it, other than look craven, shallow, and partisan? All they appear interested in is feeling the faint warm glow of being sorta-kinda-near power. For this president and his supporters, Matthew 7:16 comes in handy: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”